Suspect Arrested In Fatal Hit-run

Neighbor Accused In Deaths Of 3 Girls

A Crete Township man who lives just steps from where three girls were killed by a hit-and-run driver Memorial Day weekend was charged Wednesday with fleeing the accident scene, and prosecutors said more serious charges could be coming.

Richard D. Devon, 42, himself the father of three young children, was held on $100,000 bond after police arrested him at Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, where he had checked himself in May 30.

"We do know Mr. Devon was the driver of the vehicle that night," said Will County Undersheriff Keith Kostelny.

Police and prosecutors said that Devon confided with several persons in the days following the accident, including a former co-worker who said Devon told him May 28 that he thought he had hit a deer along dark and secluded Burville Road shortly before midnight on May 26.

The fleeing-the-accident charges filed Wednesday are felonies that could carry as much as a 3-year prison term if Devon, a self-employed heating and plumbing contractor, were convicted.

Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow said the investigation would continue with an eye to adding other charges. Those could include reckless homicide, which carries a maximum 5-year prison term. Police are investigating whether alcohol was involved in the accident; if so, the maximum penalty could rise to 14 years.

Devon's lawyer, Tim Rathbun, said he did not know if his client would post bond.

"Mr. Devon has many things he'd like to say to many people," said Rathbun. "We advised him not to make any statements to the police, not to make any statement to news media or any statements to friends.

"Innocent people deserve to exercise the same rights as criminals exercise, and that right is to stay quiet."

Kostelny said Devon was being housed in a special medical unit at the Will County Jail. Citing patient confidentiality, hospital officials declined to explain what Devon was treated for.

Wednesday's arrest culminated a manhunt that began late May 26 when Will County sheriff's police, responding to an emergency call, found Cari Sanaghan and two other 12-year-old friends, Sheena Acres and Courtney Lauer, dead in a ditch just steps from the Sanaghan home. The three girls had been at a slumber party at the house, and they and some others had sneaked out to meet a friend.

On May 29, authorities said analysis of parts found at the scene pointed to a Chevy S-10 Blazer, model year between 1982 and 1990, with damage to the right front end. A reward was offered, which eventually grew to $8,500.

The next day, Devon reportedly checked himself into Silver Cross Hospital. Hospital officials became suspicious after the man made comments that led hospital workers to think "the individual might have been involved in the Crete accident," according to spokesman David Bosch.

On May 31, a Friday, hospital officials reported their suspicions to police after getting legal advice that they would not be breaching patient confidentiality because the case involved a fatality.

By Saturday, police released a detailed description of the vehicle they were looking for, complete with license number, and asked the public's help in finding it. The 1987 Blazer was spotted the next day parked in the 1900 block of West George Street in Chicago's Lake View neighborhood.

On Monday, police identified Devon as the truck's owner.

Devon has lived on Burville Road for 10 years, but many neighbors seemed to know little about him or his family.

Irene Hoffman, who lives a few doors from Devon's red-brick home, said that Devon is known around the neighborhood as "Ricky" and that he seems to work on a lot of old cars in his garage. But she said she rarely saw him except when he was waiting for the school bus with his children.

Devon's back yard, just a few doors east of the Sanaghan home, is filled with play equipment for his 7-year-old son and two daughters, age 4 and 2. But neighbors said they had seen little of Devon's wife and children in recent months. According to court documents, Devon's wife sued him for divorce in April, shortly after obtaining an order of protection that accused him of verbal and emotional abuse.

State records indicate Devon was ticketed for speeding in 1991, but had no subsequent citations for moving violations.

Kostelny said Devon's house would be searched to look for additional evidence, particularly parts from the Blazer.

Will County Deputy Chief John Moss said police are trying to trace Devon's movements the night of the accident. "We believe he realized he hit something immediately when it happened," said Moss. "We know he knew about the accident and that he probably did it."

He said police have reports of Devon's truck being spotted in the vicinity of several Crete-area bars in the hours preceding the accident. "But we do not know if he was impaired," Moss said.